Brooklyn Solidarity Network

The Brooklyn Solidarity Network is an organization designed to build revolutionary solidarity among Brooklyn residents. We exercise solidarity through direct action against the capitalist exploitation of our friends and neighbors.

About

The Brooklyn Solidarity Network organizes around housing and workplace issues. We are not a chartity or a service. We are a group of committed dissidents who are building a culture of resistence against the landlords and bosses in Brooklyn. A core function of the solidarity network is that as we help people, they join the network to help others. Through this method we can grow our strength exponentially. BSolid is an open network with many levels of involvement that anyone can plug into: from participating in pickets, to flyering, to educating.

If you are having problems with your landlord or bosses we have flyers distributed all around the borough, a website, facebook page, and twitter account. Contact us with your problem and we'll arrange a meeting with you. We then develop a campaign together to issue demands, and if need be, to confront your landlord or boss with a group to get justice.

Mission

The Brooklyn Solidarity Network believes the priorities of the landlords, bosses, and politicians are directly antagonistic to the needs of the regular working people of Brooklyn. We don't recognize the legitimacy of profiting from the need for shelter and well-being. We wish to see a world devoid of landlords, bosses, and politicans.We wish to build strategies in which land, housing and industry are communalized. Our membership grows as those we help join to help others, and through our membership, so grows our power. We exist to demonstrate working anarchism in Brooklyn, and we will not stop organizing until we have achieved a Brooklyn in which every resident is liberated from state and private ownership of their lives.

Until Brooklyn is ours.Until Brooklyn is no one's.

Agitate

Educate

Organize

FAQ

Is this a charity service?

No. We can't stress that enough. BSolid has no interest in charity, our goal is solidarity. A simple way to illustrate the difference is the old parable about giving a man a fish (charity) versus teaching a man to fish (solidarity… sort of). One of BSolid's core beliefs is that people have the power to direct their lives for the better without having to rely on charity. The reason this very often does not happen is that there are forces in this world (capitalism) that isolate us and condition us to be helpless. That's where BSolid comes in. Our mission is not to provide a service, but to break down the social walls that isolate us and make us powerless.

Are you an anti-gentrification group?

Yes and no. Our goal is to empower the working class against the forces that exploit them. In Brooklyn, this often means fighting gentrification, and we do definitely take a special interest in gentrification. However, we also take on labor issues, and are willing to help with any issue of exploitation in Brooklyn.

How do you achieve victories?

We use what's called “escalating campaigns”. This means we start small with a demand letter. The demand letter is crafted by the person in need of solidarity with the help of organizers. From there we have a plethora of escalation tactics including but not limited to phone blasts, picketing, and disrupting business. The reason we operate this way is the core belief that the needs of the working class and the priorities of owning/ruling class are antagonistic of one another. That means that it's often futile to appeal to the better conscience of those in charge. The only thing they understand is money. So grow our power, we hit them where it hurts. In the wallet. Eventually, the owners will be left with the choice of losing their business or capitulating to us.

Isn't that just bullying business owners?

We're going to answer that question by asking another: If a kid on the playground is constantly getting the crap beaten out of them by a bigger, stronger kid every day, would the first kid be bullying if one day they turned around and knocked their bully out?

What about the courts and lawyers?

Another core belief of BSolid is that laws are not written to protect the people, but rather to keep power structures in place. As such, courts often favor those with power. In this case that means your employer and your landlord. By using courts, we are participating in a system we feel is unjust. Not only that, but courts are prohibitively expensive, and we'd probably lose anyway. In fact, many of the cases we take on have already been to court with no resolution. In short: if you wish to build your power, you can't rely on the systems that have kept you down all this time.

Do you do any work in Queens

BSolid doesn't actually believe in the legitimacy of borders, so if you live in Queens, or the Bronx or wherever, and are in need of solidarity, give us a call. We do try to focus on Brooklyn only because that's where most of us live.

News

Theodore has been living for the past year with his fiancé, 2 daughters, and three grandchildren in an apartment in East Bushwick. His building has 79 violations which include, but are not limited to: rats, bed bugs, mice and mold. In fact, the rat problem is so bad that the family can’t leave the apartment […]

Contact

How to Volunteer

The power of the Brooklyn Solidarity Network is in its members. Volunteering with BSolid entails participating in meetings and actions. With the collective efforts of our membership, we build power against the exploitive forces within Brooklyn.

In need of Solidarity?

The Brooklyn Solidarity Network is here to stand in solidarity with anyone fighting exploitation. If you're have trouble with your landlord, employer, or other issues of harassment and/or exploitation, the best way to get in touch with us is to give us a call. You can also shoot us an email.